1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a weight plate locking and lifting system to be used during body building exercises wherein a number of weight plates can be selectively engaged and lifted upwardly from a storage tray or disengaged and returned to the tray. Each weight plate includes a mechanical switch-controlled locking pin that is slidable through the weight plate by which to cause the plate to be either attached to or detached from a weight lifting post of the locking and lifting system.
2. Background Art
Weight lifting apparatus is known by which a number of weights (e.g., weight plates) are lifted during a body building exercise in response to a pushing or pulling force applied by the user to a lifting handle bar or the like. The number of weights lifted will depend upon the exercise objectives of the user. In some cases, the user must remove each weight from a remote storage location to be carried to and attached to the apparatus. Consequently a weight might be dropped during handling and attachment. The user may also experience difficulty while attaching and/or removing the weight to or from the apparatus. It would therefore be desirable to avoid the transport and handling of the weights to be removed from their remote storage location when not in use and attached to the weight lifting apparatus to begin an exercise. It would also be desirable to facilitate the attachment of the weight to and removal of the weight from the apparatus.